This Week in Eighth Grade History (September 26th-30th)

We are continuing to look at the War for American Independence this week, with a closer look at the Declaration of Independence and perhaps some other documents. There will be groupwork done in class (as assignments) and likely a quiz on Friday.

This Week in Seventh Grade History (September 26-30)

We will continue our look at Islam this week.

Our big project that we are working on is our Islam Keynote. Students have chosen their topics and begun gathering facts and illustrations for their presentations. I will give you an example keynote this week to help you know what I am looking for. The keynote will be due Tuesday of next week.

Students also need to read Section Three from Chapter Two and answer questions one through four and number six from the Section Review. Number four should be a full paragraph answer. There will be class time to work on this; it is due Thursday.

There will likely be a quiz this Friday. Make sure your notes are complete! Review them before the quiz!

No Ukulele Club This Week

Since we are having Parent Teacher Conferences this week, we will not be having Ukulele Club. Don't worry! We will return next week and ready to strum!

PS Soon the SRA Ukulele Club will have its own blog! Stay tuned!

This Week in Seventh Grade History (September 19th-23rd)

Students are continuing to study the history of Islam and the rise of the Islamic Empires. This week, that involves reading a section out of the textbook in class and answering some textbook questions. Students will also look at some online picture collections of various Islamic rituals and write some descriptive paragraphs.

There will probably not be a quiz this Friday as our shortened week (three half-days for Parent Teacher Conferences, remember?) does not give us time for one.

Class Calendar

Parent-Teacher Conferences This Week

Parents, you should be contacted early this week about conferences on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. This is when you will receive your student's first progress report.

Please remember that school releases at 12:00 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Monday is International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Avast, ye middle school landlubbers and salty dogs alike!

Be ye prepared to celebrate International Talk Like A Pirate Day?

Ye only good response is...

Arrrr!

'Aye!' and 'Aye Aye!' would also be acceptable. But only if given with enough pirattitude.

Keynote Presentation Example

Remember that your presentation is due on Tuesday. We'll continue to discuss this on Monday, so bring your great questions!

You should have ten slides minimum, and in your presentation you should share with us what happened before the battle, what happened at the battle, and what the effects or consequences of the battle were.

Pancake Breakfast, Jeans Day, Pizza Friday!

What a day!

Updated Grades

I apologize for the lack of updated grades in our system. I'm experiencing some issues with the program and hope to have it resolved quickly.

Seventh Grade Notes on Islam

Make sure you have all of this in your composition book for tomorrow's quiz:


7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Islam in the Middle Ages.

Muhammad and Islam

- In 610, an Arabic trader named Muhammad (from the city of Makkah) has a religious experience. He said the angel Gabriel visited him and told him to preach Islam.
- Islam means ‘surrendering to the will of Allah’ (Allah is the Arabic word for ‘God’)
- Allah is the one true god, other ‘gods’ are false
- Muslims are followers of Islam
- all people are equal and rich should share their goods with the poor
- poor in Makkah liked the message of Muhammad
- the wealthy and the religious elite did not like Muhammad’s message
- as Muhammad gained followers, the powerful people in the city decided he was dangerous and kicked him and his followers out of the city
- in 622, Muhammad and his followers went to city of Yathrib and marked that year as year 1 of Muslim calendar
- Yathrib was renamed Madinah, ‘the city of the prophet’
- in Madinah, Muhammad created a government based on Islam
- Muhammad built an army
- in 630, city of Makkah made Muhammad their leader also
- in 632 Muhammad died but Islam had already begun to spread throughout Arabia

Eighth Grade History Questions Due Tomorrow

Here are the three questions due tomorrow, as worked on for today's class period:

1. Boston Massacre -> _________ -> ___________ -> _____________ -> _____________ -> _____________ -> Lexington and Concord

2. For what reason was the Continental Congress called? What resulted from the Congress? (Good paragraph, please!)

3. Write a good paragraph on one of the following two questions:
a) Was the Boston Tea Party justified? Why or why not?

or

b) Should Britain have handled the crisis differently? Why? How?

Seventh Grade Icon Project

Your icons are due this Thursday. We will not have any more class time to work on them, if you are not yet finished, you must finish at home or on your own time.

You will be making a short oral presentation of your icon on Thursday. I will model it for you tomorrow with my icon.

Last Friday's 8.1 Test for Eighth Grade

1. The Proclamation of 1763 did not do what?
a. limit movement of colonials
b. leave British troops in colonies
c. force colonists to house British troops
d. attempt to keep colonials near coastal ports

2. What is quartering?
a. forced provisions of food and housing for British troops
b. taxes on imported goods, such as paper, glass, lead
c. no taxation without representation
d. a network of communication and information for colonial resistance

3. When did the Boston Massacre happen?
a. 1763
b. 1776
c. 1770
d. 1767

4. What law raised the real price of rum and molasses in the colonies?
a. Townsend Acts
b. Stamp Act
c. Sugar Act
d. Proclamation of 1753

5. How did colonists react to the Stamp Act?
a. work strike
b. boycott
c. destroying British property
d. declaring independence

6. On what principle did colonials resist new British taxes?
a. the right to tax without representation
b. ‘no taxation without representation’
c. the committees of correspondence
d. no right to move west of Appalachians

7. What plan for colonial cooperation was vetoed by the British during the French and Indian War?
a. the committees of correspondence
b. Treaty of Paris of 1763
c. Magna Carta
d. Albany Plan of Union

8. What did the French and British fight over, in the French and Indian War?
a. land claims, especially in the Ohio River area
b. access to the Pacific Ocean
c. gold and silver mines
d. what religion the colonies would be

9. What act reaffirmed the British ‘right’ to tax the colonies and to make decisions for them, ‘in all cases’?
a. Townsend Acts
b. Stamp Act
c. Declaratory Act
d. Gaspee Act

10. Great Awakening sermons aimed at what?
a. dramatic response from listeners
b. political resistance to British
c. listeners joining the Catholic church
d. colonists going back to England

11. Name a prominent preacher in the colonial Great Awakening: ______________________________
12. What colony was founded by William Penn? ________________________
13. What colony was founded by Puritans, seeking to practice their own religion?___________________
14. What document protected Catholic rights in Maryland?______________________________
15. What early colonial document had no mention of the King?______________________________
16. What was Virginia’s House of Burgesses?______________________________
17. What document protected the rights of English citizens to bear arms, to hold free elections, and to petition the King?______________________________
18. The importance of the Magna Carta was that a document could limit what? ______________________________
19. Which colonial region became the center of resistance to the British? ______________________________
20. Which colonial region was the most diverse culturally and religiously? ______________________________
21. Great Awakening sermons taught that listeners had the responsibility to do what two things?______________________________
22. How many colonials died in the Boston Massacre? ______________________________
23. What fort was built by Washington during the French and Indian War? ______________________________
24. What famous sermon was preached by Jonathan Edwards? ______________________________

25. What three lessons did George Washington take from the French and Indian War? ______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

26. Describe the themes of the Great Awakening.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Last Friday's 7.1 Test for Seventh Grade

1. What happened in the year 726?
a. the Eastern Orthodox Church split with the Roman Catholic Church
b. Justinian became Emperor
c. Emperor Leo III banned the use of icons
d. Julius Caesar was assassinated

2. How was the Eastern Orthodox Church different than the Roman Catholic Church?
Eastern Orthodox used icons
Eastern Orthodox viewed the Emperor as a representative of Jesus on Earth
Eastern Orthodox did not view the Pope of Rome as superior to other bishops or patriarchs
all of the above

3. What happened in the year 1054?
a. the Eastern Orthodox Church split with the Roman Catholic Church
b. Justinian became Emperor
c. Emperor Leo III banned the use of icons
d. Julius Caesar was assassinated

4. Who was Tribonian?
a. scholar appointed by Justinian to reform the legal codes
b. military expert who strengthened Justinian’s army
c. last Western Roman emperor

5. Justinian and Theodora granted women the right to do what?
a. to travel without restriction
b. to own land
c. to fight in the army
d. to be priests in the church

6. Constantinople became wealthy how?
a. by discovering diamonds
b. by being a crossroads of several trade routes
c. through taxing imported products
d. because of inflation

7. Which Emperor ruled the Roman Empire at its maximum point?
a. Constantine
b. Romulus Augustulus
c. Trajan
d. Diocletian

8. Which Emperor was the first Christian Roman Emperor?
a. Constantine
b. Romulus Augustulus
c. Trajan
d. Diocletian

9. Which Roman Emperor tried to reform the government during the slow decline of the Empire?
a. Constantine
b. Romulus Augustulus
c. Trajan
d. Diocletian

10. What language was the main one spoken in the Roman Empire?
a. Latin
b. Greek
c. Romanian
d. Spanish

11. What building material was invented by Romans?
a. formica
b. concrete
c. plastic
d. glass

12. Why was Constantinople such a successful city?
a. it had safe harbors
b. it had a secure land position
c. it had a defensive wall
d. all of the above

13. Over time, the Byzantine Empire became less Roman and more ______________________________
14. Justinian appointed this person to strengthen the army ______________________________
15. Who deposed the last Western Roman Emperor and when? ______________________________ 16. Constantine moved the capital from Rome to what city? ______________________________
17. What is the long period of peace in the Empire known as? ______________________________
18. What are the special images of holy figures used in Eastern Orthodox worship called? ______________________________
19. What is a schism? ______________________________
20. What is excommunication?______________________________
21. Who wanted to reconquer the entire area of the former Roman Empire_________________________
22. Who was Alaric and what did he do? ______________________________
23. What do Eastern Orthodox Christians believe about their Emperor? ______________________________
24. Who was Justinian’s Empress? ______________________________
25. What happened in 44BC? ______________________________

26. What did Justinian accomplish when he was Emperor? ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

Due Tomorrow! Signed Tests!

Both Seventh AND Eighth Grade Students need to get their tests signed by Mom or Dad and return it to me tomorrow. This is an assignment! Students risk detention for not returning their test tomorrow.

I will post the tests for parents to look over in a separate post.

Can Humans Fly?

Isn't this amazing? Hat tip to Mr. Loftus for sharing this with me!

Fun Video for Friday

This song from 1995 has been stuck in my head for days. I wish YouTube would let me embed the video, but alas...

It would definitely be a strange thing to ask a bonus points question on the History test about, but I've done stranger things...

Tests Tomorrow!

As previously advertised, tests are coming tomorrow for both seventh and eighth grade classes.

You will be allowed to use your composition books, so please don't leave those at home!